Calm, moist air aids fight against Calif. wildfire

But evacuation orders remained for several areas

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More favorable weather gave firefighters in Thousand Oaks, Calif., a break on Saturday as damp air flowed off the Pacific.

Associated Press
May 05, 2013

CAMARILLO, Calif. — A big cool-down in weather calmed a huge wildfire burning in Southern California coastal mountains Saturday, and firefighters worked to cut miles of containment lines while conditions were favorable.

High winds and withering hot, dry air were replaced by the normal flow of damp air off the Pacific, significantly reducing fire activity.

The 43-square-mile blaze at the western end of the Santa Monica Mountains was 30 percent surrounded.

The humidity level rose so much that an effort to burn away fuel at one section ofthe fire did not work well, Kruschke said. Despite the favorable conditions, evacuation orders remained in place for residences in several areas.

Nearly 1,900 firefighters using engines, bulldozers, and aircraft worked to corral the blaze.

Firefighting efforts were focused on the fire’s east side, rugged canyons that are a mix of public and private lands, Kruschke said.

The National Weather Service said an approaching low pressure system would bring a a chance of showers Sunday and Monday. ‘‘Anything we get is going to help us,’’ Kruschke said.

The change in the weather was also expected to bring gusty winds to some parts of Southern California, but well away from the fire area.

Despite its size and speed of growth, the fire that broke out Thursday and quickly moved through neighborhoods of Camarillo Springs and Thousand Oaks has caused damage to just 15 homes, though it has threatened thousands.

The fire also swept through Point Mugu State Park, a hiking and camping area that extends between those communities and the ocean.

Park district Superintendent Craig Sap told the Ventura County Star that two old, unused ranch-style homes in the backcountry burned. Restrooms and campgrounds also were damaged.

Sap estimated repairs would cost $225,000.

The only injuries as of Saturday were a civilian and a firefighter involved in a traffic accident away from the fire.

Residents were grateful so many homes were spared.

‘‘It came pretty close. All of these houses — these firemen did a tremendous job. Very, very thankful for them,’’ Shayne Poindexter said. Flames came within 30 feet of the house he was building.

On Friday, the wildfire reached the ocean, jumped Pacific Coast Highway and burned a Navy base rifle range on the beach at Point Mugu. When winds reversed direction from offshore to onshore, the fire stormed back up canyons toward inland neighborhoods.

The blaze is one of more than 680 wildfires in the state so far this year — about 200 more than average.

East of Los Angeles in Riverside County, a nearly 5-square-mile fire in mountains north of Banning was 85 percent surrounded. Firefighters worked on improving containment lines and patrolled for hotspots. The blaze destroyed one home shortly after it broke out Wednesday.

In Northern California, a fire that has blackened more than 10 square miles of wilderness in Tehama County was a threat to 10 unoccupied summer homes near the community of Butte Meadows, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Thunderstorms Saturday were expected to bring erratic winds but little rain to the area about 200 miles north of San Francisco.

Nearly 1,300 firefighters were on the lines and the blaze, which started Wednesday, was 20 percent contained.

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